OTTAWA–GATINEAU – The CRTC is once again seeking volunteers to help it measure the performance of home wireline broadband Internet services provided by the country’s major Internet service providers.
Under the Measuring Broadband Canada program, the Commission will work in collaboration with ISPs and broadband testing firm SamKnows to measure broadband performance and test parameters associated with the broadband Internet connection, including download and upload speeds.
While some providers offer advertised speeds of 1Gbps or faster, services above 940Mbps cannot be measured with a conventional speed test, meaning that speed tiers of 1Gbps or faster are excluded from the 2019 Measuring…
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Company asks CRTC to step into toll free dispute with Bell
GATINEAU – Frustrated with stalled negotiations with Bell Canada on how toll-free calls should be handled going forward, Rogers Communications last week filed a Part 1 application with the CRTC asking the Commission to settle the dispute.
Rogers contends Bell is profiting twice from certain toll-free calls because it won’t change the historic way it has handled them, despite changes Rogers has made and this inaction means Bell is providing itself with an undue preference. The impasse has dragged on for seven months, says Rogers.
While this sounds like a bit…
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TORONTO – Canada’s three big private broadcasters, Bell Media, Corus Entertainment, and Rogers Media, have petitioned the CRTC to exempt them from providing described video to non-Canadian programs received less than 72 hours prior to broadcast without described video.
The Canadian National Institute for the Blind is not happy.
This would be contrary to a mandate from the CRTC where broadcasters were told to provide described video for all shows during prime-time hours starting in September 2019.
TVA has asked the CRTC to relax their conditions, too.
In 2015, the CRTC announced plans to increase the availability of described video and mandated that…
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Needs local data for a proper analysis
OTTAWA – It’s rare for a bureaucratic back-and-forth to be quite so public, but with so much at stake, the Commissioner for Competition doesn’t want to take no for an answer when it comes to the granular market data he wants from Canadian wireless companies.
As part of its submission to the CRTC’s review of mobile wireless services, the Competition Bureau wants to do a detailed study on what happened in regions and cities (not just in provinces and nationally) when new wireless competitors to the Big Three (Rogers, Bell and Telus) were introduced….
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MONTREAL — An announcement of new jobs that won't even fill a school bus isn't usually enough to warrant a visit from the federal industry minister, but 30 new jobs in artificial intelligence at a global high-tech company working on the latest wireless technology prompted excitement from the man who has science and innovation literally in his title, so Navdeep Bains paid a visit to Ericsson's new Montreal home on Thursday.
The wireless giant announced it is building what it calls a "Global Artificial Intelligence Accelerator innovation hub" based out of Montreal, which will work with similar teams around the…
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TORONTO – While there’s still a few weeks until summer, Rogers’ Citytv kicked off its summer schedule on Monday which this year will include six new series and six returning favourites.
New summer series include Paradise Hotel, hosted by reality TV maven Kristin Cavallari (The Hills), where contestants check in – and make out – for a chance to win big money; new game show Spin the Wheel, from executive producer Justin Timberlake and hosted by Dax Shepard (Hit and Run); fresh reboots of retro favourites, Card Sharks, hosted by Joel McHale (Community), and Press Your Luck; and new…
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VANCOUVER – Rogers Media announced Wednesday it has acquired Pacific Content, a branded-content podcast company that produces original podcasts for clients across North America.
Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
With the launch of the company’s Frequency Podcast Network last year (which leverages a lot of its radio talent), Rogers Media continues to see growth its audio business. Rogers also owns and operates 56 radio stations across the country.
Today, notes the Rogers press release, 26% of Canadians tune in to podcasts once a month, while 18% listen weekly (Source: Canadian Podcast Listener, May 2018)….
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Renews partnership with Rogers
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Municipally-owned wired and wireless operator Tbaytel announced Monday at its annual general meeting it earned $193.3 million in revenue in 2018, up 1%, and contributed $17.5 million to the municipality through a fixed annual dividend payment to the City of Thunder Bay.
Tbaytel provides wired and wireless telephony and broadband, as well as subscription television in northwestern Ontario.
Since the Tbaytel Municipal Service Board’s inception in 2004, Tbaytel has paid $278.5 million in dividends to its shareholder, which puts the company on pace for contributions of just under $300 million in 2019, reads…
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TORONTO – Canadian mobile repair service Mobile Klinik is set to open new locations inside select Walmart Supercentres across the country.
The store-in-store program will begin with Mobile Klinik's 50th location, scheduled to open mid-May inside the Scarborough West Walmart in Toronto. Future locations include Airdrie, AB; London, ON; Oshawa, ON; and Fredericton, NB.
The stores will offer the same services offered at other Mobile Klinik Professional Smartphone Repair locations, including while-you-wait smartphone and tablet repair and care of almost all makes and models of devices; a range of certified pre-owned phones; and accessories such as chargers, cases, screen protectors and headphones.
"We're…
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TORONTO – Rogers Communications recent issuance of debt securities to help cover the costs of its spectrum purchases generated more than it had planned.
The company said Wednesday that its previously announced offering of US$1.25 billion aggregate principal amount of 4.35% senior notes due 2049 in the United States, and CDN$1.0 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.25% senior notes due 2029 in Canada generated aggregate net proceeds of CDN$2.7 billion.
Rogers added that the net proceeds from these offerings will be used to fund its $1.73 billion acquisition of the 52 (out of 64) 600 MHz spectrum licenses, with the remainder used for general…
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